Regrets
by Einmonim
Summary: I let duty get into my way, and in the end, it proved to be your undoing. [Zelink, OoT, oneshot.]


A/N: Eh, some sort of angsty stream-of-consciousness I felt like doing (which is why it gets kinda random and rambly), since I wasn't in the mood for A Reason to Remember. One-shot. Hope you enjoy, and by that, I mean, egg is a funny word. Yay… oh yeah, sorry about the boring title; I couldn't think of anything better…

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**Regrets**

_He smiles at her, and she smiles back. Together, the two of them go hand-in-hand down the steps, down to where the throng of people waits. She can hear the violins playing, their music crescendoing as they descend._

_ "My Lady," he whispers to her._

_ "My Hero," she whispers in reply, and offers her hand to him, which he takes._

_ They waltz, gliding through the room effortlessly, despite all the people standing there. For a while, she can feel nothing but his touch and hear nothing but the sound of their breathing and the violins playing in the distance. She loses herself in his eyes and is content._

_ Then suddenly, he begins to fade. The pressure of his touch lessens as he disappears. She reaches out wildly in an attempt to stop it, but is not successful. She screams, but he still continues to vanish._

_ Finally, there is nothing but the faintest of shadows where he used to stand, and even that is fading. It vanishes too, but not before saying something soft enough that only she could hear…_

_ "It's your fault," his voice says harshly. "Your fault!"_

_She cries out in despair as darkness surrounds her…_

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Her eyes snapped open, and it was all she could do to stop from screaming.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into the darkness as tears began streaming from her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

She leaned back against the filthy wall, allowing the dirt and grime filter into her hair. The dream was still a vivid reality in her eyes, and she was unwilling to fall asleep again.

_How things might have changed_, she thought bitterly, _if only I had been there for him…_

She exhaled slowly and looked into the gloom, trying to imagine him standing there. Silently, she made up the words she would have said to him if only he was.

I loved you.

But I did not love you when it mattered the most.

I let duty get into my way, and in the end, it proved to be your undoing.

You believed there was no one worth fighting for in the world. You never realized that _you_ were the one worth fighting for. This belief made you falter. It made you misstep in this ugly dance of life and death.

And then you died.

Do you have any idea how many times I have regretted making the choices I did? How many alternative realities I have thought up, realities that could have come true if only I had did this and said that?

You came to me, once upon a time, seven years ago. Your eyes so bright and filled with hope. Eleven years old, and you thought you could save the world.

Seven years later, you were eighteen, and that belief still held you fast.

But I saw the changes. I saw the despair that seeped into your eyes every time you came out of a temple. You were losing hope, even as you were doing the one thing needed to restore it. And I—

Her mind faltered, and she found herself unable to think about anything for the next few minutes. It was so painful. She bit her tongue until it bled and continued her monologue to him, the monologue he would never hear.

And I… I foolishly believed that you would break free of it, alone, without my help. I was wrong. Nobody can face his or her despair alone. I should never have thought that you could, just because you had been labeled as a hero.

The one thing you could have used the most on your journey, I held back. Waiting until after the end. I didn't realize that there would be no end.

No end for anyone, except you.

If you had known that I was there for you, that I loved you with all my heart, how would things have turned out? Would you still be alive? Would the other one be dead?

Such an intangible thing, love. And yet this is what we creatures thrive on. Without it, we shrivel up until there is nothing left… like you did.

You're right.

It is my fault.

You died because of me.

I hope that wherever you are, it's in a better place than this living hell I'm in. I deserve this, though. You deserved so much more. You deserved happiness and a chance to live out a normal life. You deserved someone who would grant you her love without holding back.

That was what you deserved, and that was what I took away.

I'm so sorry, Link.

I'm so sorry.

She looked up sharply as the gate to her cell slid open, and a Redead slowly beckoned for her to come.

Ganondorf would be waiting.

Resigning herself to the future she had helped create, the Princess of Hyrule stood up to meet it, hopeless, broken, and defeated.


End file.
